I made reference in my review of the pilot that when people discuss the greatness of Lost's first season, what they are often talking about is actually the pilot, but while I stand by this point of view I would argue that the Pilot isn't the best episode of season 1 and I think a lot of Lost fans would agree with me on that one.
Ask any fan of Lost at what point did they realize that this show was something special and a lot of them will answer Walkabout. Because as magnificent as the Pilot is, Walkabout is the episode in which Lost fully realizes its potential as a character study, as a show that could tell stories that were epic, yet personal and always with a mystique that made it totally and utterly different to anything to have ever been made for the small screen.
Walkabout might not be as utterly focused as season 4′s The Constant and it may not have as many incredible moments as the season 3 finale Through The Looking Glass, but I think it is as worthy a candidate as either of them when it comes to being Lost's best episode (FYI The Constant probably just edges it for me, but I do a lot of rotation between those three.)
The story of John Locke is yet to be fully told but those final moments are character defining and are some of the absolute best television I have ever seen.
But let's go back to the very beginning of the episode. I remember when I was first watching it that from those opening images of Locke looking suspiciously at his waggling toe, I guess the twist. I knew something was up with the guy and considering that he had been talking about miracles I guessed the twist (if you can call it that.)
Yet if you didn't guess it there it would be quite easy to forget that opening scene and if you haven't already got that in mind the fact Locke is sitting down would seem rather innocuous. This is where I think Lost was the best show ever at executing twists. Lindelof and co didn't go so out of there way to disguise the show's biggest and best twists, to the extent that when the reveal happen it made no sense but they also didn't advertise the twists which always meant some would guess them and others wouldn't.
I also think that they really don't care if you had fitted the pieces together, because the power of those final moments just can't be diminished. As earlier alluded to the final 7 or 8 minutes of Walkabout are some of the best I have ever seen. Yet, considering that I had already worked out the twist, its tough to say exactly what makes them so great, because not a whole lot happens.
So what makes them so special? Well at a most basic level it is just the result of great acting, Terry O'Quinn was always one of the best performers in a cast of amazing performers, meeting great directing, the hand-held camera-work by Jack Bender as Locke stands up really adds to the scene, meeting great writing, "Don't tell me what I can't do" meeting great composing, the score by Michael Giacchino was always brilliant but it was never better used then here.
It is also the way in which these minutes fit in thematically to the show as a whole. Quite obviously Locke is talking about his destiny when he is being stopped from attending the walkabout, only to then be thrown into a real walkabout.
But it's a lot more than that. We end on a shot of Locke looking at his wheelchair as it is set on fire. These initial flashbacks are so concerned with the baggage these people are bringing to the island. Within this episode we see Jack chasing after a big part of his pre- island life, in the form of the man in the suit, yet Locke is embracing his new life and letting go of his old, encapsulating the differences that would drive the Jack/Locke rivalry.
Looking back now I have a certain amount of sympathy for Lindelof and co, if you look at the first disc of the Lost boxset the episodes on it are the Pilot (parts 1/2), Tabula Rasa and Walkabout. Really the show could never quite live up to Walkabout and Pilot being that close together.
That's not to say the show doesn't have episodes that are as good/better than these two but it certainly doesn't have two such special episodes of TV in such close proximity. Because that is what Walkabout and the Pilot are, they're special episodes of TV, they were (and still are) different to everything else TV had ever seen and are undoubtedly two of the best episodes of TV ever.
(For more reviews go to donheisenberg.tumblr.com)
Ask any fan of Lost at what point did they realize that this show was something special and a lot of them will answer Walkabout. Because as magnificent as the Pilot is, Walkabout is the episode in which Lost fully realizes its potential as a character study, as a show that could tell stories that were epic, yet personal and always with a mystique that made it totally and utterly different to anything to have ever been made for the small screen.
Walkabout might not be as utterly focused as season 4′s The Constant and it may not have as many incredible moments as the season 3 finale Through The Looking Glass, but I think it is as worthy a candidate as either of them when it comes to being Lost's best episode (FYI The Constant probably just edges it for me, but I do a lot of rotation between those three.)
The story of John Locke is yet to be fully told but those final moments are character defining and are some of the absolute best television I have ever seen.
But let's go back to the very beginning of the episode. I remember when I was first watching it that from those opening images of Locke looking suspiciously at his waggling toe, I guess the twist. I knew something was up with the guy and considering that he had been talking about miracles I guessed the twist (if you can call it that.)
Yet if you didn't guess it there it would be quite easy to forget that opening scene and if you haven't already got that in mind the fact Locke is sitting down would seem rather innocuous. This is where I think Lost was the best show ever at executing twists. Lindelof and co didn't go so out of there way to disguise the show's biggest and best twists, to the extent that when the reveal happen it made no sense but they also didn't advertise the twists which always meant some would guess them and others wouldn't.
I also think that they really don't care if you had fitted the pieces together, because the power of those final moments just can't be diminished. As earlier alluded to the final 7 or 8 minutes of Walkabout are some of the best I have ever seen. Yet, considering that I had already worked out the twist, its tough to say exactly what makes them so great, because not a whole lot happens.
So what makes them so special? Well at a most basic level it is just the result of great acting, Terry O'Quinn was always one of the best performers in a cast of amazing performers, meeting great directing, the hand-held camera-work by Jack Bender as Locke stands up really adds to the scene, meeting great writing, "Don't tell me what I can't do" meeting great composing, the score by Michael Giacchino was always brilliant but it was never better used then here.
It is also the way in which these minutes fit in thematically to the show as a whole. Quite obviously Locke is talking about his destiny when he is being stopped from attending the walkabout, only to then be thrown into a real walkabout.
But it's a lot more than that. We end on a shot of Locke looking at his wheelchair as it is set on fire. These initial flashbacks are so concerned with the baggage these people are bringing to the island. Within this episode we see Jack chasing after a big part of his pre- island life, in the form of the man in the suit, yet Locke is embracing his new life and letting go of his old, encapsulating the differences that would drive the Jack/Locke rivalry.
Looking back now I have a certain amount of sympathy for Lindelof and co, if you look at the first disc of the Lost boxset the episodes on it are the Pilot (parts 1/2), Tabula Rasa and Walkabout. Really the show could never quite live up to Walkabout and Pilot being that close together.
That's not to say the show doesn't have episodes that are as good/better than these two but it certainly doesn't have two such special episodes of TV in such close proximity. Because that is what Walkabout and the Pilot are, they're special episodes of TV, they were (and still are) different to everything else TV had ever seen and are undoubtedly two of the best episodes of TV ever.
(For more reviews go to donheisenberg.tumblr.com)